1520 Artifacting

How can I tell if it is a driver problem or an issue with the laptop itself? I was playing TF2 and suddenly all the textures became warped and all I could see was large triangles of colors. Note that the notebook was not hot and the vents were not blocked. Also as a bonus question, I have a strange issue where firefox will not startup every other time I turn on the computer, and when this happens the shut down button fails to function (including the restart) and I'm forced to shutdown via the power button. Its a really weird issue, not sure if their related.

 

This should solve your problem, read the whole thing before posting again.

 

The artifacts issue, is a driver or over heating issue, try a number of different drivers before giving up, it's a pain in the @$$ my friend but worth it in the end result cuz when you find that sweet spot, it runs all the better.

As for that Firefox and power issue, I'd say it sounds like Vista or w.e OS you are running is a flaky install. I'd suggest a reinstall if the problems continue to occur, if that doesn't solve the issue, then give Dell a call.

Also I just thought of this referring back to the driver issue - try going back to the ones that came with the system, if you are using another type of driver.

It's possible it's the game, I've had a few games (Farcry comes to mind) act very strange on all my systems. Move that camera in a certin spot and WHOA, scary the stuff that'll happen, try updating/patching your game. Could be it's not taking to DX10 to well, sorry not sure what game your playing

Let us know how you make out.